be a wayfinder
In an ancient Hindu text, a father described the wayfinding process to his son:
“As a man from Gandhara, blindfolded, led away and left in a lonely place, turns to the east and west and north and south and shouts, ‘I am left here and cannot see!’ until one removes his blindfold and says, ‘There lies Gandhara; follow that path,’ and thus informed, able to see for himself, the man inquires from village to village and reaches his homeland at last –just so, my son, one who finds an illumined teacher attains to spiritual wisdom in the Self.” – Chandogya Upanishad (800 B.C.)
We are embarking upon the greatest journey in human history. Bravely navigating through our food, carbon and communication goals is just the beginning. We also need to find our way as a global society. And no one person can do this.
Or in other words, the Roadmap in the app removes the blindfold and points to the destination. But wayfinding, well, that is ours to do. (Don’t get me wrong. Nothing is more important in my mind than effective environmentalism, a good strategy, and recognizing the urgency of love. I’m just saying we can’t stop there.)
The 200+ app videos in the Know-How section are like guideposts. They span categories like “Urgent, Must Watch,” “Vegan Health,” “Environment,” and “Veganic Abundance.”
As you move through these videos to create a society of boundless inclusivity, you will realize that the world is upside down. It’s difficult to shift, regain one’s balance, and set things right. We need all of the support we can get.
This is why I recommend you join up with like-minded people and trailblaze forward in the following ways.
1. Establish a friends group. Create or join a plant-based friends group on Signal, Telegram or WhatsApp to share in your united in heart journey. Working together will amplify positive changes.
2. Join a Spiritual Fellowship. I know, I know. This one sounds strange. Just hear me out!
Peace activist Arun Gandhi points out that another name for nonviolence is soul force. Here’s why. Spirituality is the desire and faithfulness to know the unity of life. Without it, nonviolence falls flat.
With that said, learning to love (which is spirituality in practice) requires slowing down the mind. Eknath Easwaran explains, “All negative thoughts – anger, fear, passion, compulsive craving -- tend to be fast. If we could see the mind when it is caught in such thoughts, we would really see it racing. But positive thoughts like love, patience, tenderness, compassion, and understanding are slow - not turbulent, rushing brooks of thinking, so to speak but broad rivers that are calm, clear, and deep.”
The best way to slow down the mind is through meditation. Personally, I attend a free, weekly online Blue Mountain meditation group. They have about 100 satsang groups worldwide. These groups follow Eknath Easwaran’s passage meditation method, discuss how to put one’s highest ideals to practice, and are non-sectarian, non-denominational and free from ritual and dogma.
Nonetheless, I believe any meditation practice espousing boundless inclusivity under the careful guidance of a modern illumined guru (or their trusted disciples) is a good choice. For instance, you might wish to join a spiritual group that follows the teachings of Supreme Master Ching Hai, Thich Nhat Hahn, Will Tuttle, Paramahansa Yogananda, or Swami Vivekananda.
3. Zoom. Join a zoom meeting with me, Sailesh Rao or Aviram Rozin (of Sadhana Forest). At the bottom of this page, we post our zoom meeting event schedule for the week.
As to next steps for United in Heart, we plan to transform the app into a social justice social media app. Then you may add links to embed YouTube videos in our app and watch videos shared by others. This way we learn and grow together through collective intelligence. All the while, we will earn Enviros in various categories and build out a more complete framework of understanding.
Events:
Coming Soon.